U.S. WNT vs. Trinidad & Tobago
5-0 W

2016 CONCACAF Women's Olympic Qualifying Championship

HOUSTON, Texas (Feb. 19, 2016) – The U.S. Women’s National Team earned a berth to its sixth consecutive Olympic Games with a 5-0 win against Trinidad & Tobago in the semifinal of the 2016 CONCACAF Women’s Olympic Qualifying Championship at BBVA Compass Stadium.

Canada earned CONCACAF’s other spot with a 3-1 victory against Costa Rica in the other semifinal and will meet the United States in the tournament’s championship game on Sunday, Feb. 21 at 4 p.m. CT live on NBC Universo and NBC Live Extra, and on replay at 10 p.m. CT on NBCSN.

Alex Morgan’s third career hat trick led the way for the USA as she scored once in the first half and twice in the second while Tobin Heath and Carli Lloyd also tallied. Lloyd increased her goals in Olympic Qualifying to 12 and is two goals away from tying Abby Wambach’s record of 14 goals career goals in this tournament.

Hope Solo earned her 94th shutout and recorded her 143rd win, further extending her U.S. records.

On the other end, T&T goalkeeper Kimika Forbes made more than a few excellent saves to keep the score down.

Goal Scoring Rundown:
USA – Tobin Heath (Mallory Pugh), 12th minute: Mallory Pugh sprinted past a defender down the left flank and cut a pass on the ground back into the middle. Heath made a hard run into the box and beat her defender to the ball to send a powerful spinning left-footed strike into the right side of the net. The goal was Heath’s first since the 2015 Women’s World Cup Final against Japan, USA1, TRI 0 (SEE GOAL)

USA – Alex Morgan (Lindsey Horan), 30th minute: Kelley O’Hara sent a fantastic cross from the right side that Lindsey Horan got under near the far post and headed the ball back into the middle where Alex Morgan was waiting. Morgan used the inside of her left foot to tap it home for her 60th international goal. USA 2, TRI 0. (SEE GOAL)

USA – Carli Lloyd (Morgan Brian), 43rd minute: Morgan Brian took a USA corner kick from the right and Carli Lloyd met the cross in the middle of the box to send a powerful header that slipped through the arms and legs of kneeling T&T goalkeeper Kimika Forbes, who up until then had a fantastic game. USA 3, TRI 0 (SEE GOAL).

USA – Alex Morgan, 71st minute: Samantha Mewis headed the ball on goal but T&T defender Jennelle Cunningham was able to clear the ball off the goal line. Alex Morgan jumped on the clearance inside the six-yard box and again headed it on goal but Cunningham once again cleared it out, this time with her head. Morgan then pounced on the second rebound and this time to blasted home a left-footed shot for her second goal of the match. USA 4, TRI 0. (SEE GOAL)

USA – Alex Morgan (Morgan Brian), 72nd minute: Julie Johnston passed the ball to Morgan Brian who was just outside the penalty area. Brian the crossed it to the middle of the area where Alex Morgan volleyed it inside of the right post to complete her third career hat trick. USA 5, TRI 0 (SEE GOAL) FINAL.

Key Saves and Defensive Stops
TRI – Kimika Forbes, 3rd minute: Meghan Klingenberg slipped a pass into the penalty area for Alex Morgan on the left side. Morgan fired hard and low, but Kimika Forbes did a great job to put her body in front of the ball and blocked the attempt with her legs to keep the game scoreless early on.

TRI – Kimika Forbes, 22nd minute: Carli Lloyd outran a pair of defenders into the box and blasted a powerful attempt to the middle of the net but Kimika Forbes was once again alert batted the ball away.

TRI – Kimika Forbes, 29th minute: Carli Lloyd fed Alex Morgan into the left side of the penalty area, but Forbes once again used her body well to block the shot with her legs.

Next on the Schedule: The U.S. WNT will face Canada in the title game of the 2016 CONCACAF Women’s Olympic Qualifying Championship on Sunday, Feb. 21 at 4 p.m. CT. The U.S. has qualified for its sixth consecutive Olympics and will attempt to win the CONCACAF Women's Olympic Qualifying Championship for the fourth consecutive time. The championship final will match can be viewed live NBC Universo and NBC Live Extra, and on replay at 10 p.m. CT on NBCSN.

The U.S. WNT extended its streak to nine consecutive games in CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying without allowing a goal, dating back to the Final of the 2008 Qualifying tournament when the U.S. tied Canada 1-1 on April 12, 2008 and went on to win in penalty kicks 6-5.

The USA has never lost a match in Olympic Qualifying, but did tie Canada 1-1 in the title game of the 2008 tournament before prevailing in penalty kicks. It remains unbeaten in all-time CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying with a 17-0-1 record.

Tonight’s match was the second consecutive start for Kelley O’Hara and Mallory Pugh after both were in the starting XI against Puerto Rico on Feb. 15. It was also Pugh’s second career start.

Johnston and Horan played in their third Olympic qualifier. They both made their Olympic Qualifying debut against Costa Rica on Feb. 10. Samantha Mewis played in her second Olympic Qualifying match when she came in for Horan in the 60th minute.

With tonight’s start, five players in the lineup have now seen action in every game so far in the tournament: Lloyd, Morgan, Brian, Klingenberg and Pugh. Lloyd is the only one to have started every match so far in the tournament. Dunn and Press, who came in as subs in the second half in the 66th and 59th, have also played in all four matches.

Lloyd and Brian, who play for the NWSL’s Houston Dash, played in their home venue, BBVA Compass Stadium and combined for the USA’s third goal.

Lloyd is the only player at this year’s Olympic Qualifying tournament to have scored in all four games.

Morgan’s hat trick was her first since Nov. 28, 2012, against Ireland.

Dunn, Morgan and Lloyd lead the scoring in this year’s tournament with six, five and four goals, respectively.

Sauerbrunn made her 99th appearance for the WNT, and could hit the century mark if she plays on Sunday’s championship match.

Pugh is the youngest player ever named to a U.S. Olympic Qualifying roster. She also became the youngest female player in WNT history to play in an Olympic qualifier match at 17 years, 9 months and 12 days old when she came on for Dunn in the 68th minute against Costa Rica on Feb. 10. She recorded her first career assist against Puerto Rico on Feb. 15. She assisted on another goal in tonight’s match.

Milestone Watch:

Carli Lloyd leads the team with 13 all-time Olympic Qualifying appearances. With 12 Olympic Qualifying goals scored, Lloyd is two goals behind Abby Wambach’s U.S. record of 14 goals in Olympic Qualifying. Alex Morgan has nine tallies and Crystal Dunn has six.

Lloyd earned her 216th cap tonight while Hope Solo recorded her 189th, extending her own record for a U.S. goalkeeper.

Lloyd has now scored 86 international goals and remains in sixth place on the WNT’s all-time scoring list. Lloyd has scored 23 goals in the USA’s last 18 matches starting with the Round of 16 game vs. Colombia at the 2015 Women’s World Cup.

With her tally in the 30th minute, Morgan tied Shannon MacMillan for eighth on the USA’s all-time scoring list. She then scored two more and with 62 goals now has sole possession of eighth place.

Solo played in her 11th Olympic Qualifying match, earning her 94th shutout tonight and 143rd wins.

The U.S. Women's National Team has officially begun preparations for the 2018 SheBelieves Cup. The team is training in Orlando, Fla. ahead of its opening match vs. Germany on March 1 in Columbus, Ohio.

Frisco, TX (February 21, 2018) – Grammy award-winning band Imagine Dragons will headline the 2018 National Soccer Hall of Fame Weekend with a performance presented by Budweiser on Saturday, October 20, 2018. Their first-ever performance in Frisco, Texas will take place at Toyota Stadium following the 2018 National Soccer Hall of Fame induction ceremony.

Formed in 2009, Imagine Dragons made their full-length album debut with 2012’s multi-platinum Night Visions. Their past hits include “Believer”, “Whatever It Takes,” “It’s Time” and “Radioactive”, which was a diamond-selling hit that won Best Performance at the 2014 Grammy Awards. Smoke + Mirror debuted at number one on the Billboard Top 200 album chart when it was released in 2015.

“We are thrilled Imagine Dragons are performing at the inaugural National Soccer Hall of Fame weekend,” said FCD president Dan Hunt. “They’re passionate soccer fans and will help us make this an unforgettable experience.”

Official Imagine Dragons Fan Club presale begins March 5 at 10AM CT. Toyota Stadium presale begins at 12PM CT on Monday, March 5. Tickets to go on sale to the general public beginning Tuesday, March 6 at 10AM CT. FC Dallas Season Ticket Members will receive direct communication from FC Dallas regarding exclusive presale opportunities.

The weekend of October 20-21, 2018 marks the grand opening of the National Soccer Hall of Fame at Toyota Stadium. Saturday, October 20 will feature the Hall of Fame induction ceremony followed by the Imagine Dragons performance presented by Budweiser.

FC Dallas hosts Sporting Kansas City in the National Soccer Hall of Fame Game presented by Budweiser on Sunday, October 21 at Toyota Stadium. To experience the National Soccer Hall of Fame Induction Weekend and learn more about FC Dallas Season Ticket Memberships, please visit FCDallas.com/Memberships for more information.

The National Soccer Hall of Fame was originally founded in 1950 by the Philadelphia Old-Timers Association to recognize individuals for their outstanding contributions to American soccer. In 1979 the National Soccer Museum, as a physical entity, was established in Oneonta, NY. It was officially recognized as the National Soccer Hall of Fame by the U.S. Soccer Federation in 1983.

In June of 1999, the National Soccer Hall of Fame opened a multimedia museum in Oneonta where it housed a collection of more than 80,000 items and artifacts such as the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup trophy, the oldest soccer ball made in the U.S. and the 1994 FIFA World Cup U.S. archive. The facility closed in February of 2010.

In 2013 FC Dallas owners, Clark and Dan Hunt, launched a campaign to bring the Hall of Fame to Frisco. Their father, Lamar Hunt, was inducted in the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 1982. In 1999, he received the Hall’s highest honor, the Medal of Honor. He remains one of only three individuals to have won the award.

The National Soccer Hall of Fame at Toyota Stadium will open October 20, 2018 with the National Soccer Hall of Fame Induction weekend. Read more

Mar del Plata, ARGENTINA (February 17, 2018) – The U.S. Under-17 Women’s National Team defeated Chile 1-0 in its third and final game at the Copa Provincia de Buenos Aires tournament, with midfielder Samantha Kroeger scoring the game’s lone goal in the 20th minute.

The victory gave the USA the tournament title and a sweep of all three games after also defeating Argentina 9-0 and Uruguay 4-1.

“We’re very proud of the team for winning the tournament and scoring fourteen goals over the three games,” U.S. U-17 WNT head coach Mark Carr said. “We were able to accomplish many of our objectives during this trip and playing different teams in South America highlighted some growth areas for us moving forward. We have high standards in our program and we will continue to improve ahead of qualifying in April.”

Kroeger, who was seeing her first action of the tournament, was one of four players on the roster born in 2002. The goal was her second in the third U-17 cap.

The winning score came when defender Kennedy Wesley took off on a long dribble into the Chile defensive half and then played a pass to midfielder Talia DellaPeruta on the left wing. She sent in a hard cross on the ground from outside the penalty area, sliding the ball across the goal for the hard-charging Kroeger to finish.

In March, the U-17 WNT will have a domestic camp in Florida that will feature two games against Japan.

The USA will then participate in the 2018 CONCACAF Women’s Under-17 Championship being held in Nicaragua from April 19-29. The Americans seeded into Group B where they will face Costa Rica, Bermuda and Canada in the tournament that will qualify three teams to the 2018 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup.

CHICAGO (Feb. 20, 2018) – U.S. Soccer and the U.S. Women’s National Team have announced the winner of the 2018 SheBelieves Hero contest ahead of the SheBelieves Cup. The contest aimed to find a girl between the ages of 13-17 that embodies the SheBelieves spirit.

Conceived and developed by U.S. Soccer and the U.S. Women’s National Team players, SheBelieves is a movement to inspire young girls and women and encourage them to accomplish their goals and dreams, athletic or otherwise. The campaign was originally launched in the run-up to the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup but has since evolved and grown into a special bond between the team and its fans, taking its powerful message of empowerment into communities across the nation. Through dedication, teamwork, perseverance and success, U.S. WNT players inspire new generations of young girls and women to be better and strive for better; they inspire them to believe.

A SheBelieves Hero is a leader in their community, a confident and passionate individual who empowers others around her and is working to make a difference.

In its first action after the 2018 SheBelieves Cup, the U.S. Women’s National Team will play a pair of friendlies in April against its neighbor to the south, Mexico, as the USA continues its challenging preparation schedule in advance of World Cup qualifying this fall.

The first of the two matchups will take place in Jacksonville, Florida, at EverBank Field, home of the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars. The U.S. WNT hasn’t played in JAX (also referred to as Duuuuvaaaal County, give or take a few letters, by the locals) since Feb. 9, 2013 in a game against Scotland that the U.S. comfortably won by a 4-1 score.

The match, which drew an impressive attendance of 18,656 was, at first glance, a solid friendly for the U.S. WNT to kick start a new cycle and year after a successful Olympic gold medal-winning run in London. But perhaps more importantly, on the field, it was the beginning of some long-lasting storylines for the USA.

During that warm afternoon in Northern Florida, U.S. WNT forward Christen Press and midfielder Julie Johnston (now Julie Ertz, of course) earned their first U.S. WNT caps. Press started the game and played 72 minutes. She also went on to score two goals, becoming the 17th player in U.S. WNT history to score in her first cap and third to score a brace.

Johnston, then 20-years-old, was coming off a terrific 2012 with the U-20 WNT that saw her captain the team to the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup title in Japan. She entered the game in the 83rd minute, replacing Becky Sauerbrunn on the back line to help secure the U.S. victory.

It’s been five years since their debuts, and five years since the U.S. WNT last played in Jacksonville, but in that time the pair of players have grown on the field and off, won a World Cup in 2015, and become veterans on a younger, new-look WNT team, a team that is now setting its sights on qualifying for the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup.Read more